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THE REAL ARTISTS!

THE REAL
ARTISTS!

Behind
the scenes of Bengal’s stunning Pandals : Meet the farmers who are the real
artists !

Did
you know that in the Durga Puja, many farmers of Bengal swap their sickles with
bamboos and ropes?

The
hands of the very people who till land and sow crops turn into the hands of
craftsmen, giving shape to some of the most stunning Puja pandal’s of the
state’s biggest festival.

These
pandal makers come in hordes to the city from various parts of Bengal, mainly
from Paschim Mednipore and Purba Mednipore, the hurb of the handicraft and
cottage industry, and other districts including Nadia and North and South 24
Parganas.

Work on a pandal usually starts six to
eight months ahead of Durga Puja, right after the contracts are signed around
January-February. However, it is only during the last one to two months before
the puja that work takes on a frenetic pace- the pandal is put together at the
site with people working three shifts a day.

Most pandal artists have their own
teams comprising farmers, masons, carpenters, electricians, painters, etc., who
take care of various parts of pandal-making such as building the structure of,
covering the structure with cloth, artwork, painting, and lighting inside the
pandal.

Usually pandal artists and makers have
no formal training. They are self-taught or learn the ropes from a guru.

Kuila, a leading name in pandal art
and a native of Purba Medinipur Birinchibasan village, is one such artist, who
has had no training in this area. Born in a poor, agricultural family, Kuila
was expected to carry on with the tradition and take on his family profession.
“I spent several years working with my father, uncles and brothers on the farm
before I chose to devote all my time to art,” says Kuila.

“My heart was never into farming and I
spent most of my time drawing and creating little artworks.”

Kuila embarked on this journey 25
years ago. But it was in 2002 that he rose to prominence after winning the
National Award for handicrafts. There was no looking back since then for the
self-taught artist. This year, Kuila and his 150-member team have worked on
four Durga Puja pandals commissioned by some of the oldest and biggest puja
organisers — Barisha Club, 41 Pally Club, Mudiali Club and Tridhara Sammillani.

For poor artisans, Durga Puja art is
more than just a creative outlet-it is an opportunity to improve lives and
social status.

Kuila says what pandal-makers earn
during the two-three months of Pujas far outstrips the annual income made from
farming.

Typically, a pair of hands working
three shifts earns up to Rs 1,500 a day with the pandal artist’s fees ranging
from Rs 200,000 to Rs 1 million per pandal. An artist of good repute can expect
anywhere between Rs 1 million to Rs 2 million per pandal. For the top of the
heap, the fees are even higher.

In contrast, annual income from
multiple cropping (in this case two crops of paddy, betel leaf and vegetables
in between) a farmland of one bigha (a fourth of one acre) would yield a profit
of not more than Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000 every four months while a farm labourer
would make Rs 120 after toiling hard for a day.

RUMELI PYNE

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